


Warming Up

by Dimity Blue (Arnie)



Series: Life After Mayfair [1]
Category: You Rang M'Lord?
Genre: Background Het, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 04:38:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7787089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arnie/pseuds/Dimity%20Blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The board creaked outside his room and James opened his eyes automatically, though it took him a moment or two to realise why.  It was still dark - not much past midnight, if James was any judge of time - and, for some reason, Ivy had left her room and was going downstairs.  While it was entirely possible she was visiting the bathroom, James was well aware of his business partner's preferences and midnight runs to the floors where their guests slept was not among them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warming Up

**Author's Note:**

> Set a few months after the end of series 4.

The board creaked outside his room and James opened his eyes automatically, though it took him a moment or two to realise why. It was still dark - not much past midnight, if James was any judge of time - and, for some reason, Ivy had left her room and was going downstairs. While it was entirely possible she was visiting the bathroom, James was well aware of his business partner's preferences and midnight runs to the floors where their guests slept was not among them.

Swinging his feet to the floor, James reached for his dressing gown and pulled it on quickly. The air was cold, even though Winter had not long begun. His dressing gown and slippers in place, James went to the top of the stairs and listened. From the sound of a quietly closing door, Ivy was in the kitchen.

By the time James reached the kitchen, the kettle was on the stove and Ivy had a small panful of milk warming beside it. She clutched at the front of her dressing gown, then relaxed as James greeted her.

"Oh, Mr. Twelvetrees, you did startle me! I didn't know who it was!"

"My apologies, Ivy." James let the 'Mr. Twelvetrees' go though he'd corrected Ivy to 'James' a number of times, and she usually remembered now. It seemed more fitting to have a layer of formality as a barrier at this time of night. "Are you ill?"

"Oh no! But my bedroom's ever so cold! I need more hot water for my hot water bottle."

Ivy looked cold, James realised. Her nose had taken on the shade of pink it always did when the weather turned too chilly. However, her room should be no colder than James's own and he had been warm enough to sleep.

"Would you like some cocoa?"

"That would be very kind, Ivy. I'll return shortly."

James went back to the attic floor and hesitated less than a moment before opening the door to Ivy's room. The frigid air that met him persuaded him that this needed investigating and he entered the room without hesitation. It didn't take long to track down the source of the draught; part of the windowframe had rotted, leaving a thin but long gap, more than enough for the icy night air to steal all the warmth from the room. James frowned at it in disapproval. It was unacceptable and their landlord would be notified first thing in the morning. For now though, the room was far too cold to be slept in.

After some thought, James returned to his own room and stripped his bed. He would instruct Ivy to make the bed using her own bedclothes, while he would go downstairs to sleep in the empty bedroom on the second floor. Though it would be easier to move Ivy downstais to the empty room, it was completely unacceptable to leave her, an unaccompanied female under James's protection, sleeping on the same floor as male guests. Not that James thought any of them would attempt to approach Ivy, but propriety demanded she remain distant from them, even in sleep.

Returning to the kitchen, James informed Ivy of his decision and bore her gushing gratitude with a stoic front. "It makes more sense for you to remain on the attic floor. Once your window is mended, you will, of course, return to your own room."

"Yes, Mr. Twelvetrees."

"Come along, then. There's no need for either of us to lose more sleep than we have to."

She bobbed him a curtsey while clutching her hot water bottle to her middle, and James bit back a smile at the sight, remembering all the times she'd curtsied to him when they were both employed by Lord Meldrum. Instead of reminding her of times past, he gathered the still full cocoa cups and carried them up. It didn't take long for Ivy to gather her bedclothes, and James left her to take possession of his room. He didn't leave the attic floor though until he heard her bolt the door.

~~~

Left alone in Mr. Twelvetrees' room, Ivy hurriedly made up the bed. The thought of Mr. Twelvetrees' concern for her safety was just as comforting as her hot water bottle and it didn't take long for Ivy to warm up. Lying there in the dark, she hugged the thought to herself that he had to care, just a little bit, to be so concerned. Even though, really, it was nonsense to think that any of their guests would dream of acting in a less than appropriate manner. Mr. Twelvetrees insisted on vetting their guests himself, and he was determined they would only have the most respectable type of person, even going so far as to throw one guest out when he made a forward comment to Ivy.

Ivy smiled. There'd been many a time when she'd envied Miss Poppy, not only for the lovely clothes and easy lifestyle she enjoyed but also because she'd had Mr. Twelvetrees' admiration and affection. Had them and threw them away so callously. Now, though, Ivy didn't envy her at all. Running the guest house was hard work but being by Mr. Twelvetrees' side made it all worthwhile.

The end


End file.
